A few weeks back I won free tickets to the International Beer Expo (thanks to
yelp.com) and asked C. if she would like to join me. There were two time slots to choose between. I had daytime errands and responsibilities to deal with, as did C., so we went with the 5:30-9:00 option. The event was held in a cruise terminal at the Navy Yard. There was a school bus to ferry people from the subway station to the event. I haven't ever gone any further south than the stadiums (unless you count the airport, which I don't), so it was nice to add a little tiny piece of Philadelphia to my personal brain-map of the city.
Before we were permitted to wander freely in the hallowed halls of beeeer all was calm. I took so many photographs of beer. I'm going to try to figure out how to do a mosaic thingy, but my brain is just not up to the task on this particular afternoon.
C. was sad because her sample cup was empty.
Sugar Hill to the rescue! I really, really liked their beer...drinkable to the max but not without a little more class/flavor. I'm not sure that really makes sense.
This man was dressed like a sailor.
The outdoor part of the venue was on the water. The water was dirty and trash-ridden, but the view was still interesting. What with the planes going by really low.
C. coveted pretty much everyone's pretzel necklaces.
These guys were part of a bachelor party. They sky-dived (sky dove?) earlier in the day and were relatively entertaining. They asked us about marriage. The guy on the right was really, really, like seriously, tall and the brother of the groom-to-be.
Like I said, C. was a sucker for the pretzel necklaces. This guy is the groom of the bacehlor party.
There were many people at this thing, but it never got too overwhelming or crowded. We were not packed in like sardines, which I appreciated.
About two hours into the tasting madness people would start raising their glasses and huzzah. Well, they wouldn't literally say huzzah, but it was the spirit of a huzzah.
After an initial haphazard walk around the building, C. and I began to be a bit more scientific in our approach to trying as many beers as we could. So we started at the top and proceeded to go from one beer to the next in a logical progression. We made friends with these two, who also applied order to their tasting experience, and were in town from New York expressly for the expo.
And the evening progressed. I believe that we were able to try at least one variety of almost every brewer...we didn't bother with Bud Light or Stella or any of the more big commercial name beers, but all the rest we tried to try.
After the event we went to
National Mechanics where I had their pork empanada special. It was good to get some food, but they would have been so much better with cheese.
Then we met up with R. at
Brahaus Schmitz and drank beer out of a boot.
A good night.
Before we were permitted to wander freely in the hallowed halls of beeeer all was calm. I took so many photographs of beer. I'm going to try to figure out how to do a mosaic thingy, but my brain is just not up to the task on this particular afternoon.
C. was sad because her sample cup was empty.
Sugar Hill to the rescue! I really, really liked their beer...drinkable to the max but not without a little more class/flavor. I'm not sure that really makes sense.
This man was dressed like a sailor.
The outdoor part of the venue was on the water. The water was dirty and trash-ridden, but the view was still interesting. What with the planes going by really low. 
C. coveted pretty much everyone's pretzel necklaces.
These guys were part of a bachelor party. They sky-dived (sky dove?) earlier in the day and were relatively entertaining. They asked us about marriage. The guy on the right was really, really, like seriously, tall and the brother of the groom-to-be.
Like I said, C. was a sucker for the pretzel necklaces. This guy is the groom of the bacehlor party.
There were many people at this thing, but it never got too overwhelming or crowded. We were not packed in like sardines, which I appreciated.
About two hours into the tasting madness people would start raising their glasses and huzzah. Well, they wouldn't literally say huzzah, but it was the spirit of a huzzah.
After an initial haphazard walk around the building, C. and I began to be a bit more scientific in our approach to trying as many beers as we could. So we started at the top and proceeded to go from one beer to the next in a logical progression. We made friends with these two, who also applied order to their tasting experience, and were in town from New York expressly for the expo.
And the evening progressed. I believe that we were able to try at least one variety of almost every brewer...we didn't bother with Bud Light or Stella or any of the more big commercial name beers, but all the rest we tried to try.
After the event we went to National Mechanics where I had their pork empanada special. It was good to get some food, but they would have been so much better with cheese.
Then we met up with R. at Brahaus Schmitz and drank beer out of a boot.
A good night.
2 comments:
That looks amazing.
I went to NYC's brewfest Saturday with Tobs and Seth among others and it was horrible. Waaay too many people, not enough vendors and as people got drunker, more and more would just cut the line.
Awful!
It was fun in 2008 though.
Ugh. I do not do well with large crowds and attitude. At least you had 2008. There is a craft beer thing, I think, in Philly later on and y'all should come. Or not.
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